1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to plumbing fixtures for penal institutions, and the like, and, more particularly, to plumbing fixtures incorporating means for preventing overflow from the toilet bowl, flooding and subsequent damages caused typically by an obstruction of the waste outlet of the toilet bowl.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Penal institutions, and the like, provide cells for the inmates thereof, such cells typically being equipped with a single, combination plumbing fixture which includes a lavatory and a toilet bowl or water closet. Preferably, such a combination unit is wall-mounted to allow the unit to be securely anchored to the wall to prevent removal thereof from the side of the plumbing fixture which is exposed to the cell area and the inmate thereof. Additionally, a wall-mounted unit usually permits servicing and maintenance of the unit, when necessary, from the opposite side of the wall not accessible from the cell area, thereby, eliminating the need for authorized service personnel to enter the cell area holding the inmates. Such an arrangement improves the basic overall security of the penal institution.
The lavatory usually consists of a fixed bowl or basin with a pushbutton-activated, time-delayed close faucet providing running water thereinto, with a drain pipe for draining of the water-based effluent therefrom following use by the inmate or inmates. The toilet bowl of the combination plumbing fixture consists typically of a water flushed bowl with a toilet seat which is utilized for inmate urination and defecation.
A major problem of providing such a plumbing fixture for inmate convenience is that inmates will attempt to cause damage to the institutional facilities by causing either, or both, of the lavatory or toilet bowl, to overflow their rims thereof and to flood the institutional facilities. This is frequently accomplished by obstructing the waste outlet of the toilet bowl or drain pipe of the lavatory, or both, by stuffing clothes, or other objects, into the waste outlet or drain pipe, and adjusting the water flow control valves for continuous flow, or repeatedly flushing, as the case might be; the object being to admit into the basin or toilet bowl a greater volume of water than can be drained out of the wate outlet or drain pipe. The end result is a flooding condition in the cell area, and of the institutional facilities adjacently disposed thereto. This flooding can cause a substantial amount of property damage, especially, as is frequently the case, if the cells are located on an upper floor of a building housing offices, storage files, or other functional installations therebeneath.
The prior art abounds with numerous attempts to electrically control the fluid levels in toilet bowls and water closets. I am aware of the following prior art patent references which electrically and electronically control water closets and urinals: U.S. Pat. Nos.:
______________________________________ 1,985,314 2,707,482 3,034,151 3,329,974 3,751,736 2,552,625 2,858,546 3,066,314 3,334,359 3,908,204 2,603,794 2,908,017 3,115,643 3,339,212 3,928,874 2,612,901 2,988,751 3,121,880 3,593,346 3,987,502 2,635,691 3,024,469 3,314,081 3,713,177 4,041,557 ______________________________________
However, the following U.S. Patents bearing numbers: 3,928,874; 3,987,502; and 4,041,557 have been examined and are believed to be of pertinent interest with respect to the invention presently disclosed herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,928,874 discloses a mechanism for preventing the overflow of flushing fluid from a toilet bowl when the fluid level in the toilet bowl reaches a pre-determined level; a fluid level which is determined to be abnormal or dangerously close to overflowing the rim of the toilet bowl. Basically, this device comprises two functional parts. First, an electric switch mounted in the toilet bowl which is activated by a flushing fluid level in the toilet bowl which has been previously determined to represent an abnormal or dangerous level, and, second, an electrically operated flushing fluid control valve operably coupled to the switch which is rendered inoperable when the switch is activated.
However, the key to this device is the specific fluid level sensing system, its arrangement and its location used to activate the electric switch. Such switches are generally identified by 28 in FIGS. 1-6, inclusive, of the Drawings. The switch configurations illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 are undesirable for use because they can be rendered inoperative when clogged with solid waste, such as toilet paper and fecal matter. Such clogging can easily occur when toilet paper, solid fecal matter, or both, come into contact with the float 30 of FIG. 2 and float 44 of FIG. 4, and stick thereto. Such sticking of either material adds to the weight of the floats 30 and 44, thereby changing their buoyancy characteristics and rendering them, at best, unpredicatable or, at worst, inoperative to the point of permitting an overflow.
Further, the toilet paper, fecal matter, or both, could easily become wedged inbetween the wall of the toilet bowl 16 and the float 30, thereby, preventing the float 30 from being buoyed upwardly to activate the switch 28 to terminate the flow of flushing fluid into the toilet bowl 16 and preventing an overflow. The very same thing could readily occur with respect to the float configuration 44 of FIG. 4 with the same results.
While the switch configuration disclosed in FIG. 5 eliminates these disadvantages and undesirable features, it, along with the switch configurations of FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, are readily subject to inmate vandalism which is usually rampant and unpredictable in penal institutions and the like. For example, the floats 30 and 44 could be easily jammed and rendered inoperative by an inmate deliberately wedging something inbetween the float and the wall of the toilet bowl 16. With respect to the pressure switch mechanism 48 of FIG. 5, the inmate could easily cut, tear, or rip the fabric of the diaphragm 56, thereby, rendering it inoperative and non-functional.
With respect to the arrangement disclosed in FIG. 6, while the placement of the pressure switch 48 renders it inaccessible to the inmate, it is undesirable due to the fact that should a blockage occur in the downwardly inclined or hooked portion 26 of the drain line 22 of the toilet bowl 16, the flushing system could be flushed to fill the toilet bowl 16 above the blockage and re-flushed to produce as many overflows as desired. Normally, the only time that flushing fluid is delivered into the upper portion 24 of the drain line 22 is during the flushing cycle; otherwise, no water or pressure head exists as implied by the inventor thereof in column 2, lines 50-56, inclusive. The same holds true for the pressure switch 60 arrangement illustrated in FIG. 7.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,502 teaches, in combination, a plumbing fixture 10 including a means for preventing overflow when an obstruction occurs in the waste pipe 34 of the water closet or toilet 16, including a water flushed bowl 30, or in the drain pipe 22 of the bowl or basin 18 of the lavatory 14. Such is accomplished by inserting an electric sensing probe 50 positionally below the rims of the basin 18 and bowl 30 via the walls thereof, and, are electrically insulated from the walls, so that when the flushing fluid, which is electrically conductive, contacts the sensing probes 50, the probes 50 are electrically shorted to the electrically-conductive walls of the basin 18 and bowl 30, thereby activating a normally open solenoid-controlled valve 26 or 38, as the case might be, each mounted in the water supply lines for the basin 18 and the bowl 30, turning off the supply of water to prevent overflow of either the basin 18 or the bowl 30.
FIGS. 3A and 3B clearly disclose the position of the sensing probe (mislabeled as 62) within the flushing rim 52 (referred to an an overflow chamber 54).
Such an arrangement is unacceptable for use in a penal institution because it can be easily rendered inoperable by an inmate by merely spraying an electrically insulating coating or paint or coating it with Vaseline petroleum jelly, or the like, through the outlet passageways disposed below the inwardly turned portion 80 of the rim 52, thereby preventing the probe 50 from being activated to prevent overflow. Consequently, because such a system can be easily rendered inoperable by an inmate, it is not vandalproof, and, hence, is unacceptable for use in a penal institution or like institutional environment.
Perhaps, U.S. Pat. No. 4,041,557 is related most nearly of all of the prior art known to the inventor. This patent discloses an electrical toilet flushing mechanism useful in prisons and similar institutions which the inventor declares: ". . . cannot be made to overflow by repeated flushing, even if the toilet is clogged." This patent employs an electrical sensing probe, identified as an insulated electrode 47, similar to probe 50 of the mechanism of U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,502. However, in this case, the insulated ". . . electrode 47 is located in the toilet bowl flushing fluid supply pipe 15 back from the rim of the toilet bowl so that it is impossible for an inmate to disconnect the electrode or to defeat the action in any way." (Column 2, lines 54-57, inclusive.).
While the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,041,557 eliminates the vandal problem encounted with the mechanism of U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,502, overflow can occur under both anticipated and normal blockage and obstruction conditions of the waste drain line 23. For example, consider the following obstruction situation. An obstruction or blockage is created at the bottom of the toilet bowl 5; however, this obstruction does not block the entrance to the waste line 23, nor the outlet of the blow-out line 21. If any water is standing in the toilet bowl 5 at a level sufficient to contact the electrode 47, it is bailed out so that the level is beneath the electrode 47 so that the electrode 47 will permit the flushing valve 11 to be actuated. Thereafterwards, the flushing valve 11 is actuated and flushing water rushes into the toilet bowl 5 adding a substantial amount of additional water to that already in the toilet bowl 5, and producing an overflow condition.
Further, even assuming that the water is not bailed out by hand from the toilet bowl 5 so that the water level will not contact the electrode 47, the water, in any event, will inherently drain out the blow-out line 21 into the waste line 23, thereby always placing the electrode 47 above the water level, thereby rendering the electrode 47 ineffective, in the toilet bowl 5 regardless of whether the outlet of the toilet bowl 5 is blocked to prevent drainage of the water and effluent from the toilet bowl 5. Consequently, the location of the electrode 47, and the corresponding electrical system as presented by the patentee of U.S. Pat. No. 4,041,557 will not overcome this problem, and the toilet bowl 5 will overflow under the condition as, a typical condition, indicated and described hereinabove.